MSC Cruises Redesigns Buffet Restaurants on Three Ships

MSC Cruises has redesigned the buffet restaurants on MSC Splendida, MSC Fantasia and MSC Poesia. With the help of Italian food designer Paolo Barichella of Enocultura, the buffet area was restyled around concepts of presentation and service.

The buffet is the most visited dining area on board, particularly during breakfast and lunch. “The idea behind the new buffet was not only to increase the quality of service and variety of fresh choices but also to create a real culinary experience and reshape the way we present food on board,” said Enrico Borniotto, general manager of MSC Italcatering.

“Aside from redesigning the area in terms of decor, we tried to bring on board the concept of the visible kitchen,” he said.

“Some guests cannot imagine that most of the food is fresh on such big ships and that pasta, pizza, bread and desserts are handmade.

This is an extraordinary added value to be proudly presented to guests.”

The redesigned buffet now includes specialty corners, arranged with a more intuitive feel for guests trying to decide what dishes to select.

Fruit and vegetables are now sliced and diced in front of guests at the salad and fruit corner, where fresh products are arranged by color.

The carving corner provides cuts of meat from turkey to beef, while burgers, hot dogs, chips and a selection of sandwiches, piadina wraps and traditional focaccias can be found at the grill take-away corner.

Homemade bread can be found at the bakery corner, where selections include breadsticks, rolls, pretzel buns, rye bread, French baguettes, seeded bread rings, grissini and artistic MSC logo breads.

Authentic Margherita pizza, as well as a pizza of the day, puff pastry jalousie and stuffed calzone, can be found at the pizza corner, while the pasta station offers pasta au gratin, homemade stuffed pasta, ravioli and tortellini, all cooked in front of the guests.

The Mediterranean corner provides a large selection of traditional cheeses, including provolone, gorgonzola, gouda, Grana Padano, ricotta, mozzarella, brie and camembert, as well as cuts of high-quality, origin-certified cured hams, Mortadella and salami, ready to be carved in front of guests.

Five dishes can be found at the daily specials corner, offering a full menu including soup, pasta gratin and sautéed pasta, rice and hot dishes with meat, fish and vegetables. Specialty recipes from a range of countries, including Morocco, Spain, Greece, Indonesia, China, Mexico and India, can be found at the ethnic corner, which offers four choices from the country of choice each day.

The redesigned buffet is currently available on MSC Splendida, MSC Fantasia and MSC Poesia. The project will be rolled out across the whole fleet by summer 2013. MSC Cruises has also recently introduced more flexible opening times for the buffet service, with buffet restaurants across the fleet now open for 20 hours a day, from 6 a.m. until 2 a.m. Room service is available 24 hours a day.

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